Beyond the world of discovery that music has been for me, there was always the bigger world, the universe of questions about what we’re a part of, how it works, and how to best fit into the larger whole.

My love of words, a fascination with scientific, philosophical, and spiritual inquiry, and a quiet determination to learn how to be a better human (and a happier man) have led me on a path of shaping my experience, breath by breath, into poems.

With deep gratitude to Pema Chodron,
for her earthy, cogent, and compassionate teachings

Most of our thoughts
are just the burps and farts
of a restless mind,
stewing in it’s own turmoil.

They are like noxious gases
which foul our inner world,
for as long as we hold on to them.

They will fester and ripen,
like a fart in a space suit,
unless we let them go,
to dissipate in the open air.

And so it is,
that these suits we weave around us
(to protect our inner space
from imagined dangers)
do little more than stifle us,
as we slowly suffocate
in our own emotional waste.

But to smell this stench
can be all impetus we need
to jump outside
of what we thought we were
(this costume, this little mind,
this imaginary person),
into the magnificent freedom
of what we truly are,
and the sweet smell
of reality.

In gratitude to the luminous spirit
and profound teaching of Thích Nhất Hạnh

Stuck in traffic,
as a seed of irritation
germinated in my thoughts,
I asked myself
“What would Thay do?”

I remembered, then,
that I had been given a gift,
the time to simply breathe,
relaxing, doing nothing,
as I let the sights
and sounds of the day
wash over me,
bathing in the moment,
grateful and content.